论亚里士多德的德性养成的始点

On the Beginning of Aristotle’s Cultivation of Virtue

如何理解"习惯"概念及其在"德性养成"中的作用,这一问题引发了《尼各马可伦理学》研究者们的诸多争论,而亚里士多德关于"习惯是德性来源"的说明为我们回应上述争论留下了余地。如果"习惯"经由"品性"而与"道德"相关,"品性"是家庭和城邦对个体灵魂的塑造,那么人的灵魂就呈现出向家庭和城邦敞开的特质。在理性判断尚未完善之前,儿童和青年人通过"模仿"家庭和城邦中成员的行为而形成自己的感知模式和判断。"品性"源于"习惯","习惯"以"模仿"为起点,三者之间的逻辑关系勾勒出亚里士多德探究"德性养成"的思路,并为我们正确把握"德性养成"的始点提供了理论参考。

How to understand the concept of “habit”and its role in “the cultivation of virtue”has caused a lot of controversies among the critics of The Nicomachean Ethics .Aristotle s account of virtue as a result of habit leaves room for us to respond to these arguments.If “habit”is related to “moral”by “character”, and “character”is the way that the family and the city-state shape the soul, then the human soul shows the trace of opening to the family and the city-state.But before rational judgment is completed, children and young people formed their own perceptual patterns and behaviors by “imitating”the behavior of the members of the family and the city-state.“Character”comes from “habit”, and “habit”starts with “mimesis”.By means of “mimesis”, the logical relationship among them outlines Aristotle s thinking of “moral cultivation”, and provides theoretical reference for us to correctly grasp the starting point of “moral cultivation”.